


a bird always flies home

by censored



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, I Don't Even Know, Reunions, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-05-27 02:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15014849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/censored/pseuds/censored
Summary: “Bruce, I- I can’t stay here. It suffocates me. Gotham gave me a new chapter of my life, but I need to get away, I need to spread my wings. I’ll come back, one day. I will. I promise.”





	1. the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So! This will be OOC as hell bc that's how I am apparently. Enjoy this mess i guess!

“Bruce, I- I can’t stay here. It suffocates me. Gotham gave me a new chapter of my life, but I need to get away, I need to spread my wings. I’ll come back, one day. I will. I promise.”

Dick Grayson faced the man that gave him a home and a life. Ice blue eyes filled with tears and determination. He had felt this way ever since he was forced away from the circus and left in Gotham. The city suffocated his sense of freedom. Dick often felt as if his life was becoming something that he never wanted it to become. He never wanted to feel like he couldn’t leave. After his parents had been murdered and Bruce had taken him in, followed by Robin appearing next to Batman on the streets, Dick had felt as if he would never be able to fly like his parents again. Being Robin had helped, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Bruce Wayne nodded, he understood, he really did. He had left Gotham to get away as well. He just hoped Dick would be safer than he had been. When Bruce had escaped Gotham’s clutches when he was fourteen he traveled the world, training to be Batman. He went through a lot of pain in order to be where he was today. Bruce just hoped Dick wouldn’t follow in his footsteps. Gotham’s Dark Knight felt exposed without his mask as he cleared the lump in his throat, thinking of the boy he thought of like a son leaving him, “Okay, you can go,” he finally allowed. “You have to write me at least once biweekly. Dick, please just- just be safe, okay?”

Dick nodded, slightly surprised that Bruce had agreed without an argument, and wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand, “Thank you for being so understanding, Bruce.”

Bruce nodded, “I went through the same thing, although I was a bit older than you are when I left.”

Dick shakily smiled and disappeared up the stairs into his room. That had answered his silent question about the lack of resistance from his guardian. 

Bruce exhaled silently as he watched the little dark-haired boy rush up the stairs. Dick had always been small for age, and from his parent’s heights, Bruce knew Dick wouldn’t ever be as tall as him. The knowledge that Dick would be alone in the world, small but hopefully quick enough to survive, overloaded Bruce’s thoughts and the man turned towards the kitchen to tell Alfred, even though the butler probably already knew. 

Two hours later, Dick appeared on the stairs, a small duffle bag strapped across his back like a backpack. Bruce understood that; pack light and easy, but he didn’t understand the black large document tube nestled next to it. He didn’t vocally question it. Dick nodded at him before turning to the kitchen to say his goodbyes to Alfred. Time seemed to pass slower than usual while waiting for his son to return and after what seemed like forever, the kitchen door swung open. Dick quickly swiped his hand roughly across his cheek. Smearing the tear that had begun to fall. Bruce opened his arms and the thirteen-year-old stepped into them, pressing his face tightly against his chest. When they separated, neither mentioned the wet splotch on Bruce’s smokey colored button down. 

“Be safe out there, chum,” the nickname slipped out before Bruce could catch it. Thomas Wayne had called Bruce that and it only felt right that he called Dick that as well. 

“I will,” Dick replied with a watery smile. 

He was out the door moments later. 

 

The manor felt empty.

 

Bruce was reminded of the time after his parents had been murdered. 

That night, Batman was patrolling Gotham alone and the Rogues began to question where the little bird had gone. Catwoman had cornered Bruce after three nights without Robin asking if Dick was alright. Bruce told her that he was alive. 

Dick kept his promise to send Bruce letters. They never had a location or a return address and they were short. But they told Bruce that his son was alive and that was all that mattered.

 

Three years after Dick left, Bruce met Jason Todd. The kid was trying to steal the Batmobile’s tires. He became Robin, never knowing what had happened to Dick Grayson. Bruce rarely mentioned anything about Dick and Jason never saw the letters. 

 

Jason died.

 

The letters started coming on the first of every month instead of bi-weekly and were reduced to one word: “Safe” handwritten on a blank notecard. The handwriting had matched Dick’s messy scrawl. Bruce had done tests on the card. No prints. The ink was from a cheap ballpoint pen sold everywhere in the world. No way to know where he was.

 

Tim Drake appeared on Wayne Manor’s doorstep. He became Robin a year later. He asked only once about where Dick had gone. Bruce had walked away without a word. Tim didn’t ask again.

 

Tim brought a girl dressed in purple home. Spoiler was her name. Real name was Stephanie Brown. Batman and Spoiler, as well as Bruce and Stephanie, often argued with each other. Bruce still told her that she was his honorary daughter even if he didn’t adopt her. Stephanie would smile when he reminded her. Jason reappeared in Gotham.

 

Bruce adopted Cassandra Cain. She didn’t talk but understood how Bruce felt at any time. Steph and Cass became best friends, inseparable. Jason forgave Bruce and became a part of the family again. 

The letters came every six months now.

 

Damian Wayne, the son of Batman, appeared on his doorstep seven years after Dick had left. The boy was ten years old. Bruce doesn’t let him go out as Robin until Tim chooses to become Red Robin two years later. By this point, the letters that were promised to bi-weekly come once a year.

 

Damian had been Robin for a year when Dick Grayson returned to Gotham.


	2. returning to the (very large) nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’ve grown so much,” Bruce whispered, shocked at the appearance of his first son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I did not expect to post for a while, but I have 2 more chapters already written so I thought, might as well! This chapter is where the fun begins. Hopefully, I will be able to develop the batkids the way I think they will act but right now, Dick's back!

On the tenth year anniversary of Dick Grayson leaving Gotham a twenty-three-year-old returned. 

The day had been normal, for the most part. All of the manor’s occupants had all noticed how Bruce and Alfred acted closed off on this day every year. Both of the men talked less than usual on this day as well. They acted the same they did on the anniversary of Thomas and Martha Wayne’s deaths. For as long as any of them had been under Bruce’s care, it had been like this. Bruce never had any Wayne Industries meetings scheduled and Alfred silently baked cookies almost all day. 

After an early supper, Bruce migrated from his locked study down to the Batcave. Cass and Alfred were restocking the medical supplies in the cave’s infirmary. Damian, Jason, Steph, and Tim had been in the Batcave all day as well. Damian had been rotating between training and drawing portraits of Alfred the cat. Jason had upgraded and repaired all his armor and weapons before he had begun training. Tim and Steph had been slow motion sparring and were working on technique. 

“Bruce! Check out this new move!” 

Bruce stopped and watched, looking at his children proudly. Once they had finished he nodded, “Steph widen your stance half an inch and Tim, don’t lock your elbow.”

“Thanks, B!” They chirped in unison. Bruce gave them a small smile. 

The tired father situated himself in front of his computer. The large monitor switching on and flooding the cave with a dim light. He clicked on a few files and maps depicting various countries that none of his children have ever been allowed to see. Alfred noticed the selection of files and made his way over to Bruce. 

“Alfred?” Bruce asked softly, dread spreading across his face.

“No, Master Bruce. No sign of one. Do you think…?”

By this point, everyone in the cave was curiously eavesdropping. 

“I can’t afford to think like that Alfred,” Bruce replied to the silent question.

“Sir, they were like clockwork. I don’t understand why he would stop suddenly.”

Bruce was about to respond but was cut off by a loud engine echoing throughout the cave. An unfamiliar blue and black motorcycle sped towards them. The rider was a male, looking to be shorter than average, but with a lean, muscular body. The stranger was wearing a blue motorcycle helmet, black combat boots, black jeans, and a black leather jacket zipped over a large white shirt that hung out beneath. A black document tube, along with a duffle bag, was strung across his back. Bruce held his breath.

“Who the hell is that?” Jason asked, aiming a gun at the stranger, ready to protect his family.

“B?” Tim and Steph questioned after a moment. 

“Father-” Damian started before Bruce held up a hand to stop him. 

The motorcycle skidded to a stop behind the Batmobile. The unknown man swung a leg over the motorcycle and landed lightly on his feet next to it. He stared right at Bruce when he slowly moved empty hands up to remove his helmet. The helmet was placed on the seat of the bike, but the man’s ebony hair hung over his eyes for a moment before he lifted it and ice blue eyes with dark circles underneath stared right into Bruce’s gunmetal blue eyes. Bruce released his breath. Alfred stifled a gasp and glanced sharply at Bruce, who was standing there wide-eyed. 

“Put down the gun, Jason,” Bruce muttered. Jason frowned, but without taking his gaze off the unknown man he holstered the pistol. 

“Hey, B,” a melodious, accented voice said, “Sorry for not sending a letter, I got preoccupied.”

The man had an almost unnoticeable struggle with pronouncing “i” and “t” and “o” sounds in American English. There were at least five different accents in the man’s voice but the Eastern European focused more on Romance than Slavic, part of it shown through the most. There was a mess of accents mixed into the voice, making it hard for those who had never met him to clearly understand what he was saying. 

“You’ve grown so much,” Bruce whispered, shocked at the appearance of his first son. Ice blue eyes, hardened but the same, stared back at him. Ebony hair, shaved on the sides, laid with slight curls on top. His naturally darkened skin was slightly darker than it had been but covered in light scars. Tight muscles laced his visible arms, not bulging like Jason’s or Bruce’s own, but a gymnast’s muscles, similar to Tim and Steph’s.

“It seems you have to, tata. You found yourself a family, Bruce.” The man smiled and slowly walked towards Bruce before embracing him tightly, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, fiu.”

Alfred, having overcome his moment of shock, stepped closer to the man. 

“You finally have come home,” Alfred gave the ebony a watery smile before giving the man a hug. By this point, all of the occupants of the cave had surrounded the mysterious man. Alfred pulled back from the hug and looked at the man with a critical eye. 

“Are you injured, sir?” 

The man half-heartedly chuckled before looking sheepish, “I got a little scraped up on my way here and I think I ripped open an old wound. You have always been better than me at stitches, would you mind fixing me up, for old times sake?”

“Dick, you are clutching your side like you just got shot. Go to the infirmary,” Bruce commanded, pulling Dick’s arm over his shoulder and half carrying him towards the sterile room with all of the other occupants following.

“I’m fine,” Dick protested, “It’s just an old injury. I’m fine.”

“Bullshit,” Bruce grumbled, “You are obviously not fine. Let us see.” 

Dick, surprisingly, straightened his back and moved his hand off the wound when Bruce used that voice, despite the previous resistance.

Jason noticed the response to Bruce’s command voice, as did the rest of his siblings. The reaction was enough for Tim’s suspicions to be proved and for the others to realize that the man sitting on the medical table had worked under Bruce before. Dick swiftly pulled off the duffle bag and document tube before he unzipped the worn leather jacket and pushed it off his shoulders, wincing slightly as he did so. The undershirt, that once had been white, was now stained with blood, centralized on the left side. They all raised an eyebrow at the leather knife holster strapped across Dick’s chest, nice quality leather that was currently holding only three knives in the five available spots. Dick carefully unbuckled the holster and set it next to himself. Next, he gently lifted the ruined shirt off, revealing a heavily scarred torso. Light and raised marks littered Dick’s dark skin some recognizable bullet and knife wounds, others looking to be exotic weapon marks. The wound ended up being a deep stab wound, barely missing Dick’s hip bone. As Alfred worked, with Cass’s assistance, the other bat kids were losing their patience.

“Father, who is this man?” Damian demanded, giving Bruce his best bat glare. The sudden outburst caused Dick to turn to look at him. 

“Wait, you’re Damian Al Ghul.”

Damian swiftly turned to the man with narrowed eyes, “How would you know that?”

“I met you when you were four years old. Talia introduced us,” Dick explained. Bruce tensed when he heard that Dick had interacted with the League of Assassins.

“Impossible.”

“Talia kidnapped me and we met when she brought me to Ra’s,” Dick insisted.

“Talia kidnapped you?” Bruce interjected.

Dick looked sheepish, yet slightly annoyed at the same time, “Yeah, she grabbed me on my way to Belgium.”

“At an airport? Isn’t that a little more public than Talia likes?” Jason interrupted. 

Dick bit his lip, “I was actually on top of a train at 3 AM.”

Jason was about to respond before Alfred responded, “Master Dick, your injuries are taken care of, but please no activity for the next two days.”

“Sorry Alfred, I’ll be more careful,” Dick promised.

“Do not promise something you cannot keep. Now, please let’s all move to a more comfortable location. I will prepare tea,” Alfred smiled, handing Dick one of Bruce’s old shirts, before heading upstairs. 

“Let’s go upstairs, Bruce. I’m sure your kids are dying to know who I am,” Dick laughed, hopping off the table and walking towards the staircase that led to the manor. Pulling on the large shirt as he went. Bruce followed, chuckling slightly. Steph, Tim, Cass, Jason, and Damian all shared a look before following the Dark Knight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I welcome all questions and feedback, just please be respectful. I'll take suggestions into consideration! Feel free to ask any questions regarding the canon divergence and I'll be sure to answer!


	3. tongues on the sockets of electric dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Dick Grayson was the first Robin,” Tim confirmed, “He was never in any photos, so all of the criminals were laughed at when they said a kid took them down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ignore the chapter titles they are unrelated to the chapters content
> 
>  
> 
> enjoy this mess, i guess!

Dick was seated in an armchair that had been moved in front of the large TV. Cass and Damian were perched on the edges of the couch while Steph, Tim, and Jason filled the center. Alfred and Bruce had taken the remaining armchairs on either side of the couch. 

“Alright,” Dick began, relaxing back into the chair, “I’ll start from the beginning. My name is Richard “Dick” Grayson and I was part of Haly’s Circus with my parents. We were The Flying Graysons-”

“I knew it!” Tim burst out. 

Dick raised his eyebrows at the outburst, but continued, “I was eight years old when Tony Zucco sabotaged my parent’s act because the circus wouldn’t pay him. After they died, I was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center because all of the orphanages were filled and the social workers of Gotham are racist as hell. Bruce adopted me within the month and I discovered he was Batman after I lived with him for about a month. He let me out as Robin when I turned nine.”

“Bruce, what the actual shit were you on when you let a nine-year-old fight crime in Gotham?” Stephanie asked.

“Wait, you were the one that Joker always compared me too. He called you the ‘other Robin that always did flips,’” Jason realized.

“Dick Grayson was the first Robin,” Tim confirmed, “He was never in any photos, so all of the criminals were laughed at when they said a kid took them down.” 

“B never let Commissioner Gordon know I existed, so only the criminals knew I was around. I ended up leaving Gotham when I was thirteen and traveling the world,” Dick hesitated before nodding towards the couch, “Enough about me, I don’t know anything about all of you except your names.”

Jason shot a suspicious glance at Dick, suspecting that the man was lying about how much he knew, but he introduced himself, “Jason Todd. I was a street kid stealing the Batmobile's tires when Batman found me and took me in. He adopted me and I became Robin. Joker killed me and I came back as the Red Hood.”

Dick evaluated the man, Jason, in front of him. All the tabloids had said was that Jason Todd was a street kid from Crime Alley. From earlier, he knows Jason is taller than him and has more muscle mass. The accent in his voice was definitely Crime Alley. But his eyes, gunmetal blue, similar to Bruce’s, with accents of lime green floating within them, and the white streak in his black hair reminded Dick of the side-effects of the Pit.

“Lazarus Pit?” Dick asked.

“Yeah,” Jason responded defensively.

Dick nodded and turned his attention to Tim, who sat up a little straighter, “My name’s Tim Drake. A year after Jason died, I made Bruce let me be Robin and I switched to Auk about a year ago.”

The Drake’s had lived next to Wayne Manor as long as Dick could remember, but he knew Tim was adopted after his father was killed. Tim had longer hair than Jason, but just as dark. His eyes were a brighter blue, filled to the brim with intelligence, and dark circles under his eyes lead him to believe he was obsessed with cases as much as Bruce was. Dick made a note that his muscles were similar to his own, which led him to believe that Tim was a strategist. He knew how to take someone down without needing brute strength. There was something familiar about him that Dick couldn’t pinpoint. 

“I remember you! You were the little boy with the camera that night,” Dick exclaimed. 

“Well! I’m Stephanie Brown, Bruce never adopted me but my dad’s Cluemaster so I became Spoiler and now I just live here and steal his food,” Stephanie butted in before Tim could respond. 

Stephanie had blonde hair and baby blue eyes that complimented her pale skin tone. She also looked as if she was a gymnast. She seemed to be about Tim’s age, but the hardened look in her gave hints that she had been through a lot.

“Nice to meet you, Stephanie.”

Stephanie nodded, uncertain of the man in front of her but trusting Bruce and Alfred’s judgment. 

He turned towards Cass, “You’re Cassandra Cain, right?” As he said it out loud, he also signed it with his hands. Cass nodded, looking grateful for the sign language Dick had done with his talking and hesitantly signed back. Dick watched her intently, attentive towards her hands. Once she finished he looked thoughtful for a moment before replying the same way he did before, “You were Orphan before Bruce adopted you and you became Black Bat?” When she nodded, he smiled and responded, “It’s nice to meet you, Cassandra.” 

She shook her head slightly and Dick quickly corrected himself, “You want to be called Cass?”

She nodded and gave him a small smile, which was returned. Everyone, except Bruce and Alfred, was surprised at how Dick seemed to know exactly how to interact with their younger sister. He seemed to be able to read body movements almost as well as Cass could. Dick also apparently knew that Cass learned English better when it was signed and spoken. Jason and Steph didn’t fully trust Dick, yet Cass, Tim, and surprisingly Damian were relaxed around this man. 

Lastly, Dick turned towards Damian while taking a sip of his tea, “And you are Damian Al-Ghul Wayne.”

Damian sat up straighter, “Yes. Father allowed me to take the mantle of Robin a year ago. My mother took me here because I was unsafe in an attack on my home.”

“It’s an honor to meet you again, Damian. It’s not every day you get to meet a prince,” Dick smiled and winked playfully at the young boy. Damian flushed through his proud mask, surprising his siblings immensely. 

Dick hesitated a moment after glancing at Bruce before continuing, “I’ve, uh, had my fair share with villainous relatives and I’m glad you chose to fight against them rather than with them. It takes a lot of courage.” Dick looked at Stephanie, Cass, and Damian, genuine pride in his eyes, although he had just met them.

“Master Dick, I was under the assumption that all of your relatives were deceased?” Alfred asked gently before Bruce could interrogate Dick. 

“I thought they were all dead too, but it turns out that my great-grandfather is alive. He’s a pretty evil man. For a few weeks, I felt as if I was being followed, people kept dying in the cities I was in. Finally, on my 15th birthday, while I was in actually in Arizona, he revealed himself and we fought on top of the building I was on. When he attempted to dodge one of my attacks, he lost his balance and fell off. I thought for sure that he was dead since he fell four stories and didn’t seem to have a grappling hook. I heard him hit the ground and it was the same sound my parents had made when they fell. He died. I was freaking out about having killed the guy accidentally but when I looked down at his body, he was standing up as his head sewed itself back together,” Dick explained, watching Bruce’s reaction carefully. “Once his head was fully repaired, he looked up at me and his eyes were lifeless. He told me I was worthy. I was in shock and five other people dressed similar him appeared out of nowhere and one of them injected me with something. When I woke up he was standing in front of me.”

“Did you know where you were?” Bruce asked when Dick paused again.

“When I escaped, I realized that I had been under Gotham the whole time. But when I first woke up, I was in a completely white room in front of a bunch of people with masks on.” Dick paused and swallowed hard. The rest of the room was deathly silent.

“The masks they had on, the masks were owls. The Court of Owls kidnapped me,” Dick barely got the sentence out before Bruce was declaring that they were a myth.

“They aren’t a myth,” Dick closed his eyes tightly and breathed deeply as the rest of the room quieted, “My străbunic, the man who kidnapped me, his name is William Cobb. He’s the Talon. The one from the rima. That’s him.”

Bruce and Alfred remembered the way Dick would accidentally revert to his first language when he was upset, which was obviously happening when he was remembering the Court of Owls. Bruce saw the slight tightening of his jaw and knew they should change the subject, but his protectiveness over his first child took over.

“Why did they want you, prihor?” Bruce tried to ask as gently as he could.

Dick visible calmed down at the nickname and responded quietly, “I’m next in line to be the Talon. After my parents died, they were going to take me, but you messed up their plans when you took me in as your ward.”

At the admittance of Dick not being adopted by Bruce, but only being his ward, Jason, Tim, Steph, and Cass all subtly glanced at each other in shock.

“Wait, you’re meaning to tell me that Old Man didn’t adopt Golden Boy?” Jason burst out in surprise. Even after such a short period of time, Jason could tell that Bruce loved this Grayson kid a ton.

Dick flinched slightly but only Cass saw it, as the others were all watching Jason.

“Jason!” Bruce and Tim reprimanded as Alfred gasped, “Master Jason!”

“Come on, B. It’s obvious that he’s your favorite,” Jason countered.

Dick cleared his throat and weakly attempted to change the subject, “So, how’s Babs?”

Stephanie raised an eyebrow at the topic change but played along, “Babs?”

“He means Barbara Gordon. She’s well. Alfred, could you call Barbara and have her come over?” Bruce intercepted, glad for the topic change.

“Sir, it’s late, shall I just invite her for breakfast?” 

“Yes, Alfred, thank you.”

“Since it is getting late, can I patrol with you all?” Dick asked once Alfred had left the room.

“You’re injured, and Alfred said no activity for two days,” Bruce stated.

“Yes, but B come on, it’s not that bad!”

“It was a millimeter away from hitting your hip bone!” Tim said, surprised.

Dick gave a small smirk towards Tim before turning towards Bruce again, “Come on, B. I’ve had worse. Remember Two-Face?” Bruce winced at the mention of what Dent had done and Dick quickly interrupted, “Bad example.”

“Bad example? Dick, Harvey beat you within an inch of your life!”

“B, please. I even have my own equipment. I’ll maybe even follow your orders!”

Bruce glanced at him before sighing, “Fine.”

“Golden Boy,” Jason mumbled under his breath.

Dick pretended not to hear Jason’s comment and gave Bruce a bright smile before standing up, walking towards the clock that led to the Batcave. The others all glanced at each other briefly before standing up and following the energetic man back into the cave to get ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are appreciated, comments are loved.
> 
> All suggestions will be considered.
> 
> Feel free to ask questions!


	4. I'm the new cancer, never looked better, you can't stand it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw you spent like 5 months writing this story and then the second you start posting it you have no motivation to continue it

Jason assumed by the way the man was looking at everything as subtle as possible that the Batcave had changed drastically since the last time Dick had been there. Jason noticed that Dick had glanced a little bit longer on the memorial case Bruce kept up for him, a vandalized Robin suit, beaten up and ripped, with “Joke’s on you, Batman!” written on it in yellow. The man quickly looked away once he realized that Jason was watching him. As Jason put his armor on, he watched as Dick reappeared from the infirmary with his duffle bag and document tube. He flashed a quick smile at Jason before turning into the locker room to get changed. Jason raised an eyebrow in response and Bruce gave him a questioning look before following Dick into the room. A minute later, the door swung open again with Bruce walking out as Batman and Jason would never understand how quickly Bruce could change into a suit that had so many parts. 

“So does Goldie have his own suit or is he going to squeeze into a Robin one?” Jason asked Bruce.

Batman frowned at Jason’s name choice for Dick but answered anyway, “I don’t know, Jason.”

Jason’s question was answered when Dick walked out of the locker room, talking to Damian animatedly, with Steph and Tim following. Damian was in his hooded Robin uniform, sword strapped across his back with the hood down. Steph was wearing her Spoiler garb without her hood or mouth cover up. Tim was wearing his normal Red Robin gear and was adjusting his domino mask. Dick, however, was not in a familiar suit. He was wearing what looked to be a single piece of kevlar with very little body armor in the material. Steel toed boots adorned his feet. The top part of his suit had a “V” of blue that thinned into a smaller line over his shoulders and down to his fingertips. There were no visible weapons (or a belt for that manner) on his suit except the escrima sticks strapped to his back. Jason made the mistake of believing that the escrima sticks were Dick’s only weapons until the man suddenly was holding the knife harness he had been wearing earlier in his hands. Without breaking the conversation he was having with Damian, he slipped the knives out of the harness and placed them in invisible pockets along the side of his thighs.

“Looks like Goldie here isn’t as golden as you thought, B. It seems you’ve got another lethal kid,” Jason smirked.

Dick and Damian’s conversation abruptly stopped as they both glanced at him. Tim raised an eyebrow under his mask, a movement they all were used to seeing. Steph glanced at the empty harness Dick was holding with apprehension. 

“Jason,” Bruce commanded.

“Just statin’ the facts, B.”

Dick looked flustered for a moment before clearing his throat to compose himself, “I’ll admit I did kill some people while I was under the Court of Owls influence, however, I use these knives as Batman uses Batarangs. I aim for non-vital marks to incapacitate but not to kill. They’re actually used more for emergency situations, I usually just use these.” As he finished speaking, his hands were referencing to the escrima sticks on his back.

“It is completely reasonable, Todd,” Damian glared at Jason before turning to Dick, “Grayson, what is your fighting style?”

“I’m proficient in Aikido, Kung Fu, Escrima, Capoeira, Judo, Hapkido, Taekwondo, Jiu-jitsu, Karate, Savate, Sambo, Ninjitsu, Boxing, and some others that I still need to work on.”

Jason watched as Bruce frowned, yet Stephanie, Cass, Tim, and Damian looked various degrees of impressed. Before Bruce could question further, the computer sounded the alert for the silent alarm at Gotham Bank. Jason waltzed over to his bike, out of the corner of his eye he saw Bruce and Damian hop into the Batmobile. Five motorcycle engines revved before the purr of the Batmobile started. Jason and Dick ended up racing out of the Cave at the same time and a glance in the mirror revealed Steph, Cass, and Tim were close behind them. The Batmobile was following.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed?? honestly feel free to leave comments with suggestions and feedback bc idk anymore

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so i have more written but i won't know if y'all want it unless you comment! (kudos are great too!)
> 
>  
> 
> leave suggestions or other comments please!


End file.
